SEC files case versus marketing company

The Securities and Exchange Commission filed before the Justice Department a criminal complaint against One Lightning Corp. for allegedly selling unregistered securities in violation of the Securities Regulation Code.

SEC earlier issued a cease and desist order directing the company and its officers to stop the unauthorized selling of unregistered securities or investment contracts not registered with the commission.

“Despite the cease and desist order, the operators behind the investment scam continued to solicit investments by acquiring a new corporation known as FDS Forward Direct Selling Corp. through which it continued to offer its investment scheme,” SEC said.

SEC said several One Lightning investors had come forward to file their complaints after they failed to get their investment back.

SEC said based on its investigation, One Lightning offered huge returns to investors who would participate in the investment program through the purchase of certain cosmetics and health products.

SEC said investors were lured to invest their hard-earned money after they were offered 28-percent to 30-percent profit share income and return of the money they invested within a period of three months.

It said One Lightning was more focused on recruiting more people who were attracted to the huge returns on their investments rather than selling products.

“The scheme employed by the corporation is clearly a Ponzi scheme which it tried to hide by trying to appear as a multi-level networking company engaged in marketing of cosmetics and health products,” SEC said.

Under a Ponzi scheme, one solicits investments by offering huge profits to investors. The scheme, however, is unprofitable because it would require an ever increasing pool of later investors to pay the early investors.

SEC said it would also file complaints against the agents and dealers of One Lightning. The penalty for violation of the SRC carries a maximum penalty of P5 million and 21 years of imprisonment.

Meanwhile, SEC said it also issued an advisory against Dollar International Investment Program, which was reportedly offering high-risk investment scheme to the public.

SEC said the company was not registered with the agency and was not authorized to solicit investments to the public.

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